ORO.FC.A.201 In-flight relief of flight crew members

ANNEX III (Part-ORO) · Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026

IRImplementing rule

ORO.FC.A.201In-flight relief of flight crew members

(a)The commander may delegate the conduct of the flight to:

(1)another qualified commander; or

(2)for operations only above flight level (FL) 200, a pilot who complies with the following minimum qualifications:

(i)ATPL;

(ii)conversion training and checking, including type rating training, in accordance with ORO.FC.220;

(iii)all recurrent training and checking in accordance with ORO.FC.230 and ORO.FC.240;

(iv)route/area and aerodrome competence in accordance with ORO.FC.105.

(b)The co-pilot may be relieved by:

(1)another suitably qualified pilot;

(2)for operations only above FL 200, a cruise relief co-pilot that complies with the following minimum qualifications:

(i)valid commercial pilot licence (CPL) with an instrument rating;

(ii)conversion training and checking, including type rating training, in accordance with ORO.FC.220 except the requirement for take-off and landing training;

(iii)recurrent training and checking in accordance with point ORO.FC.230, subject to the following conditions:

(A)the checking shall not include take-off manoeuvres;

(B)the checking shall include landing manoeuvres at least in the role of the pilot monitoring;

(c)A flight engineer may be relieved in flight by a crew member suitably qualified in accordance with applicable national rules.

IR · ORO.FC.A.201 — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · Regulation (EU) 2024/2076 · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026

AMCAcceptable means of compliance

AMC1 ORO.FC.A.201(a)(2)(ii)In-flight relief of flight crew members

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INITIAL CRM TRAINING FOR THE PILOT RELIEVING THE COMMANDER

(a)The initial CRM training for the pilot relieving the commander should include the CRM training elements of the command course specified in point (g) of AMC1 ORO.FC.115.

MINIMUM EXPERIENCE

(b)The operator should define and specify in the operations manual the minimum level of experience for a first officer to be designated to act as pilot relieving the commander.

AMC · AMC1 ORO.FC.A.201(a)(2)(ii) — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · ED Decision 2025/002/R · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026

GMGuidance material

GM1 ORO.FC.A.201(a)(2)(ii)In-flight relief of flight crew member

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SEATING POSITION AND MINIMUM EXPERIENCE OF A PILOT WHO IS RELIEVING THE COMMANDER IN FLIGHT

(a)It is recommended that flight crew members to whom the commander delegates the conduct of the flight remain seated at their natural seating position (for example, a first officer remains seated at the right-hand seat).

(b)Operators, when determining the minimum level of experience of a pilot who is relieving the commander in flight (see AMC1 ORO.FC.201(a)(2)(ii), are recommended to establish a minimum experience of 3 000 hours of flight time.

GM · GM1 ORO.FC.A.201(a)(2)(ii) — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · ED Decision 2025/002/R · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026

GMGuidance material

GM1 ORO.FC.A.201(a)(2)(ii);(iii) In-flight relief of flight crew members

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LEADERSHIP AND DECISION-MAKING SKILLS OF THE PILOT RELIEVING THE COMMANDER It is recommended that, to enhance the leadership and decision-making skills of the pilot relieving the commander, an operator include in its training programme training exercises related to issues identified by the operator’s safety risk management. Examples for such exercises are the initiation of emergency descent, engine failure in the cruise, smoke control and/or removal, unreliable airspeed indication, total loss of electrical power supply or upset prevention and recovery training.

GM · GM1 ORO.FC.A.201(a)(2)(ii) — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · ED Decision 2025/002/R · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026

GMGuidance material

GM1 ORO.FC.A.201(b)(2)(iii)In-flight relief of flight crew members

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TRAINING AND CHECKING OF CRUISE RELIEF CO-PILOTS

(a)Training The training of a cruise relief co-pilot is the same as the training for co-pilots in accordance with point ORO.FC.230, including take-off and landing exercises in both the PF and PM role.

(b)Checking

(1)As the cruise relief co-pilot may not exercise functions at the control of the aircraft during the take-off, there is no need to check for those manoeuvres neither in the PF nor in the PM role.

(2)However, in unforeseen circumstances, the cruise relief co-pilot may need to exercise functions at the control of the aircraft during landing; thus, a check of the landing manoeuvres at least in the role of the PM is necessary.

GM · GM1 ORO.FC.A.201(b)(2)(iii) — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · ED Decision 2025/002/R · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026

All rules in SUBPART FC: FLIGHT CREW

Consolidated from the EASA Easy Access Rules (revision 27 Mar 2026, extracted 17 Aug 2026) for convenience. Not the official publication — verify against the Official Journal of the European Union and the EASA publications before operational use.

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